


ode to christmas

by duelistkingdom



Series: 12 days of Christmas 2020 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, established relationship (sort of), miscommunication played for comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duelistkingdom/pseuds/duelistkingdom
Summary: seto decides to take his boyfriend on a christmas date.
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi | Atem, prideshipping - Relationship
Series: 12 days of Christmas 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054562
Kudos: 7





	ode to christmas

Seto didn’t usually do Christmas dates. Christmas dates were just too much gloopy, gooey romance and openings for even more religious bullshit. However, at the end of the day, it wasn’t about him this year. He’d gotten so lucky. So much luckier than he could have ever thought possible. Yugi had told him, of course, about how Atem was supposed to have died. In fact, they both did. Yugi and Atem had both explained what happened in Egypt when they got back and how close Seto came to losing Atem without even realizing what was going to happen. So now he felt he owed it to Atem to do that sort of goopy romance bullshit he normally would never do.

Which is why he arranged for a special day out for the both of them at Disneyland Tokyo, complete with the VIP treatment. After all, Atem was apparently a former Pharaoh and what sort of date would Seto be if he didn’t at least try to show Atem a good time? And as it turned out, he was in luck: Yugi’s family did not celebrate Christmas. This meant that when Seto requested that Atem spend Christmas with him, Atem did not object under the obligation of staying with what he considered to be family. Seto did not pretend to understand the nature of the relationship between Atem and Yugi nor did Atem seem able to explain it properly. At this stage of the relationship, Seto merely accepted that Yugi was an important factor in Atem’s life and ergo attempted to play nice despite the nagging feeling that Yugi ultimately would always know Atem better than Seto did.

It flipped the other way too: Yugi seemed more keenly aware of what Seto was thinking than Seto could ever account for. This was probably another reason to be grateful that Yugi’s family did not celebrate Christmas: it was an excuse to get some much needed one one one time with Atem. Every time they hung out with Yugi, it seemed like Yugi was enjoying some private joke that Seto was not in on. Not only that, it was often awkward being at the Kame Game Shop. It was awkward still going to pick Atem up and Sugoroku was, once again, behind the counter. Part of him wished they would have closed for Christmas. “Ah, Kaiba,” Sugoroku said with something in his eyes that Kaiba could not fully understand. “Here to give me another heart attack?”

Seto found himself wishing that Atem would get ready faster. It seemed like no matter how much later he got there than he said it would be, Atem was always still not ready. And it was awkward to make small talk with Atem’s “family” considering the awkward history between them. “No, sir,” Seto said reflexively, wondering if Sugoroku will ever get over that. It’s not Seto _intended_ to give him a heart attack. “I’m here to pick Atem up.”

“Would you just relax,” Sugoroku said, looking a lot cheerier than he expected him to. “You’re always so tense. Can’t you take a joke?”

A joke? Was that was what that was supposed to be? It didn’t seem very funny to Seto. Before he could respond, he heard Atem’s voice towards the staircase. “Mom, I don’t need a scarf!”

Sure enough, when he looked over towards the staircase that led to Atem and Yugi’s room (not that he was overly familiar with the layout of their home or anything), there was Yui attempting to put a scarf on Atem, reminding Seto of the differences between Yugi and Atem. For one, Atem needed glasses and this had been addresses with silver rimmed lenses. For another, Atem disappointingly chose to wear jeans rather than leather pants. Atem had been shoved into a rather thick coat and a pair of fur trimmed snowboots. Of course, Yui attempting to make Atem wear a scarf was not a first time occurrence. Seto agreed with Yui. Atem always insisted he didn’t need a scarf and every time he would wind up stealing Steo’s because he’d be too cold. “You should listen to your mom,” Seto said, well aware Atem wouldn’t listen to him. “You’re always stealing my scarf and I’m tired of it.”

“Yours is nicer,” Atem said, sticking his tongue out at him rather childishly. “Besides, I really don’t need a scarf! How cold could it be?”

Yui rolled her eyes. “Atem, you start complaining it’s too cold when it hits fifteen centigrade,” she pointed out and once again, Seto had to agree with Yui here. He’d seen Atem start bundling up when the temperature hit twenty one and insisting that anyone who thinks that it’s perfect weather is insane, actually. Seto had to chalk that up to being from Egypt and thus used to sweltering temperatures. “It is negative nine out there. There’s no way you won’t get cold.”

“Don’t be silly,” Atem said, “there’s no such thing as negative nine.”

For a moment, it seemed like the entire world stopped as Seto reeled over this statement. It was one thing to know Atem was from ancient Egypt and another thing entirely to see it in actual practice. Logically, Seto was well aware that negative numbers weren’t really acknowledged until ancient China around 200 AD. “Are you fucking stupid,” was all Seto could splutter out instantly, unable to help himself. “Of course negative nine exists.”

Atem rolled his eyes. “A number can’t be negative,” he argued. “That’s absolutely impossible. You can’t have less than nothing.”

“Yes, you can,” Seto argued back, immediately flushed with how even when Atem was being annoying he was absolutely enthralling. “What do you think debt is?”

“Doesn’t it get wiped away every now and then,” Atem said, looking confused. “The best way to maintain social peace and economic mobility is to periodically wipe away the debts of the working class.”

At this point, Seto honestly couldn’t tell if Atem was fucking with him or if Atem genuinely believed in this. It was only then that he remembered that he was supposed to be picking Atem up for a date and perhaps starting an argument with Atem over complicated economic concepts was not the best way to start a date. “Tch,” Seto said in response, trying smooth over what just happened. “Whatever.”

Sugoroku, for his part, looked very amused by Atem’s ancient beliefs. “Try telling that to my bookie next time he comes around,” Sugoroku said with mischief twinkling in his eyes. “Been trying to convince him for years that he should just let bygones be bygones.”

“Now don’t you go putting that on Atem, dad,” Yui scolded, wagging her finger at Sugoroku with a disapproving look. Meanwhile, Seto was already having the gears in his mind turning. He did owe Sugoroku for tearing up that Blue Eyes White Dragon card and for giving him a heart attack. Perhaps he should pay off Sugoroku’s gambling debts for him. That would be a nice thing to do, right? He made a mental down to track down Sugoroku’s bookie after his date with Atem. “You got yourself into that mess, you can get yourself out. Besides, I thought it was almost paid off.”

“We should get going,” Atem said, rather pointedly as he grabbed at Seto’s upper arm. Once again, Seto was fairly impressed by the amount of strength that one short man could have. Granted, he was not nearly as short as he had been in Yugi’s body but that was neither here nor there. “Bye, mom! Bye, grandpa!”

Yui and Sugoroku waved them off as they returned back to their conversation. Now came the awkward part: the drive. For the most part, Atem actually remained silent for most of the drive and normally Seto would appreciate that. At least it meant that Atem wasn’t spouting off some insane nonsense that would drive Seto insane. Seto was comfortable with silence. Unfortunately, Seto was also extremely nervous about celebrating Christmas with someone he really liked so his instinct to fill the space with words to distance himself from his feelings was off the charts. When Atem didn’t break the silence, Seto did. “So you’ve never celebrated Christmas before, right?”

Atem shook his head. “There was no such holiday when I was alive,” he said before frowning. “I suppose I can’t really phrase it like that anymore, can I? I was alive then and I’m alive now. Strange.”

Once again, Seto struggled to consolidate what he knew of science with what he knew of Atem. Magic and science had always been at odds with each other in Seto’s mind and to have them both laid out as certified fact stressed him out. “Right,” Seto said, a foul look settling in on his face. “Every time you open your mouth, the most insane shit I’ve ever heard falls right out.”

“I thought you accepted that magic is real, Kaiba,” Atem said and he actually sounded somewhat disappointed.

Accepting that magic was real was one thing. Actively acknowledging it was another. It rattled his belief system to its core and in many ways, Seto was still not ready for that. He could not bring himself to admit that his entire belief system that he had spent so many years building was wrong. “I accept that there are things that I cannot explain,” Seto finally said after a moment. “I accept that perhaps there is more to life than what I know. That does not mean I accept magic.”

Atem considered Seto and Seto always hated when he did that. It felt like Atem was searching out the weak points in Seto and looking for all the right buttons to press. He felt bare underneath Atem’s critical gaze. “Perhaps one day you’ll come accept the truth,” Atem said with a shrug. “For now, perhaps you can explain to me what Christmas is.”

The change of subject was welcome, actually. Seto launched into a very clinical and clipped description of the birth of Jesus Christ, his significance to the Christian religion, the fact that Christmas was moved to be celebrated closer to Saturnalia during the Roman empire due to the fact that Christians were not allowed to practice their religion, and how it stuck. Atem listened in rapt attention, asking clarifying questions every now and then. “Do you understand now?”

Atem nodded. “I didn’t take you for the type to have any sort of religion.”

Seto stiffened. He supposed that could be one interpterion of why he continued to celebrate Christmas despite not having any real connection to the religion anymore. “I don’t.”

He didn’t expect Atem to understand and of course Atem didn’t. “Then why continue to celebrate a holiday connected to this religion? My partner doesn’t.”

Now there was something that Seto also had no explanation for. He didn’t claim to understand Judaism and it was far out of his depth to remark on why Yugi did what he did. While Atem made some sense to Seto, Yugi himself was entirely different. “I celebrate it because I grew up Catholic,” Seto said stiffly. “Not only that, Mokuba still likes receiving gifts during Christmas. Think what you want of me, but if it makes Mokuba happy, who am I to say no?”

“Then why celebrate with me?”

It was a strange question for his boyfriend to ask. Seto thought it incredibly obvious why he would choose to celebrate this holiday with him. “You’ve never had a Christmas before. I thought it would be nice to share this holiday with you.”

Once again, Atem seemed confused by this. “Then why are we alone together? If this is about celebrating this holiday, wouldn’t you want to also have Mokuba here?”

Seto was absolutely baffled. “Why would I bring Mokuba on a date?”

“A date,” Atem asked, looking absolutely lost now. “We’re on a date?”

Now Atem had to just be purposefully annoying him, Seto thought. “Yes,” Seto said with annoyance. “That’s what couples do. They go on dates during Christmas. It’s romantic.”

Atem paused before starting to laugh as if this was the funniest thing Seto had ever said. Seto, however, failed to see the joke. “Sorry, did you say couples? Are we a couple?”

“What,” Seto asked, now confused himself. Weren’t they? Hadn’t they been dating for the past few months now? Isn’t that why Seto had given him the keys to his house? He had asked Atem to pick Mokuba up from school when he was working late a few times. That was a level of trust granted to no one, not even Isono. “Of course we’re a couple. We have been for a few months now.”

Atem only laughed harder at this. “You wanted to date me! No, wait, even more than that! You thought you were already dating me,” Atem exclaimed and Seto turned bright red. How could someone so damn short be both equally threatening and equally intimidating? Of course Seto wanted to date him! How did Atem not realize that they were pretty much already dating? Isn’t that what this had been? Seto opened up to Atem in a way that he never had to anyone else. Not only that, he got along well enough with Mokuba. “Didn’t you think you should have clued me in that we’re dating?”

“I gave you the keys to my house! You pick up Mokuba from school when I’m working late! You spend the night at my house more than you spend it at yours,” Seto pointed out in frustration, refusing to admit that maybe Atem was right about how he should’ve at least had an actual conversation with Atem regarding their relationship status. “We’re going to Disneyland Tokyo at Christmas! I got you a Christmas gift! Isn’t that enough clues?”

Atem, for his part, was laughing. This wasn’t funny! What was so funny about this? “At no point did it cross your mind to say something about how we’re dating,” Atem said through his laughter. “I mean, I’m open to dating you, I just would’ve liked to know that we’re dating!”

“Fuck you,” Seto said, reflexively. Despite this, Atem was still grinning like a cat with a mouse caught between its teeth. Seto tried to not think about how at this point, he was the mouse. “It’s not my fault you can’t pick up on obvious signs. What, your stupid little fanclub didn’t clue you in?”

“Believe it or not, my friends and I have better things to discuss than what the weird things you do means, Kaiba,” Atem said, rather mockingly. “So. If we’re dating, then why have you never tried to kiss me? What, chicken?”

“I’m not a coward, pharaoh,” Seto said, his cheeks turning bright red. It was a fair question and Seto didn’t know how to explain himself. Sure, the opportunity had presented itself but... maybe it was silly, but Seto didn’t really want to skip any important steps. He was a gentleman, dammit. Not only that... well, kissing made things _real_. It would literally be Seto’s first kiss. The chance that they kiss and Atem decides actually, he doesn’t want to be with him because it turns out he sucks at kissing? “I’m just not a whore.”

This was, of course, the entirely wrong thing to say because Atem only laughed harder at this. “Oh, really,” Atem asked and once again, Seto got the strangest ‘mouse caught by a cat’ feeling. There was a spark of mischief in his eyes – the same kind that he got whenever he’d just finished cold reading Seto in a duel and knew exactly how to win. “What a _shame_.”

Whatever the joke was, Seto was not getting it. Atem had moved in closer and once again, Seto had no idea how someone so damn short held so much presence. Everything about Atem was larger than life. “Starting to think that dating you was a bad idea,” Seto spat out and once again, Atem laughed as if everything he said was just so damn amusing. “You’re making fun of me.”

“You make it easy, Kaiba,” Atem said and Seto quietly hoped that Atem didn’t know the meaning of the plant they were currently standing under. Atem now reminded Seto of a regal lion, preparing for the pounce. “I’m proud that you’ve finally overcame all that hatred in your heart.”

Instantly, Seto felt like Atem had taken a sledgehammer to all the walls he tried so hard to keep up. Atem had already torn down so many of them and now Seto was just _vulnerable_ , wide open for a direct attack. The fact that Atem had noticed all the progress that Seto made was exactly what Seto had always liked about Atem. It was the fact that no matter what, Atem saw right through him. “Tch,” Seto said, looking away from Atem. “Don’t go patting yourself on the back for that.”

“I’m not,” Atem said and Atem had grabbed both of Seto’s hands, keeping him from retreating from this very awkward moment. There was an almost earnestness in Atem’s eyes that kept Seto captivated. “I always knew that you could be this person you are now, Kaiba. I knew you could be a better person. Did you ever see yourself willingly taking anyone on a date back then?” Seto flushed as he realized it wasn’t a joke. Atem truly had always believed in him. That was overwhelming. He shook his head and Atem grinned. “Exactly.”

And then Atem had yanked him down by the lapels of his coat collar in order to kiss him. It was better than Seto could ever have imagined. Perhaps Christmas wouldn’t be so bad from now on.


End file.
